• Budget Issues - See Q/A Numbers 1-7
• Signature Page - See Q/A Numbers 8-9
• Proposal Process - See Q/A Numbers 10-11
• Institutes/MRUs/ORUs - See Q/A Number 12
• Collaboration Letters - See Q/A Number 13
• Sponsors and mentors - See Q/A Number 14
• Training Candidates - See Q/A Number 15
• Matching Funds - See Q/A Number 16
• Equipment & Facilities - See Q/A Number 17
• Current & Pending Support - See Q/A Number 18
• Appendix - See Q/A Number 19
• Current & Past Students - See Q/A Number 20
• Caption Font Size - See Q/A Number 21

A.   The GREAT award is a training grant and not a fellowship and, as such, is awarded to the UC Sponsor not the graduate student. The $10,000 trainee allowance is specifically allocated for the student's expenses, not the sponsor's. The faculty allowance of $10,000 is at the discretion of the faculty sponsor(s). Both categories are flexible as long as the budgeted items are clearly related to the trainee's training. In general, the trainee allowance is meant to be for the trainee's training related expenses, e.g., a laptop computer, travel to a scientific meeting related to the area of research, registration for symposium. The faculty allowance is for what the sponsor(s) deem(s) necessary for the support of the trainee. For example, there may be lab expenses associated with the co-sponsor's lab that are not included in the trainee allowance budget.

The trainee allowance funds are intended to be used to aid the trainee in the performance of his or her research project. The funds are not intended for personal use unconnected to the student's research and training (such as campus parking permit, athletic club membership). Also, funds may not be used to provide infrastructure such as office furniture. However, it was envisioned that such items as a laptop computer, which might be interpreted as personal item, could have a direct impact on the student's ability to do their research and would fall within the remit of training related discretionary funds. Ultimately, although GREAT provides broad-based guidelines, it is up to the discretion of the Sponsor in consultation with the trainee, as to how to appropriately expend these funds in support of the training project. Ownership of inventorial and non-inventorial equipment is determined by the equipment policy at the local campus.

A.  Since registration and health insurance costs are part graduate student fees, then, yes, faculty sponsors may use their allowance for these training-related expenses.

A.   If the student must complete a TAship during the course of the GREAT award, the primary sponsor may ask for a one quarter deferment or extension of the award. The student should not receive compensation from the GREAT grant concurrently with TAship compensation.

A.   Yes, the transportation costs for the GREAT trainee and at least one sponsor to attend the GREAT retreat to be held annually in late October or early November at the Best Western Beach Resort in Monterey MUST be included in the budget. Lodging and meals at the retreat will be paid by the Program.

A.   No, UC BREP is funded by the Office of the President with State of California funds. Therefore, indirect costs are not applicable.

A.   The department chair must sign off on the proposal because his/her department will administer the grant if funded. The Office of Sponsored Programs* must also sign off on the proposal. In addition to verifying budgetary information, the sponsored programs office verifies that the P.I. is eligible to submit proposals, and they maintain statistics on submitted proposals and funded grants for their campus. The proposal must be signed by the Dean of the P.I.'s college or school only if it is a requirement of that college school.

* Please note that each University may be different in that the "Office of Sponsored Programs" may be located in the University's Contracts and Grants Office or with the Office of Research. In either case, a signature must be received from the office that approves training grant proposals on your specific campus. UCLA's Office of Sponsored Programs has stated that they do not wish to sign GREAT proposals.

A.   As this is a proposal submitted by the primary sponsor (principal investigator), it is processed as a training grant; it is not a fellowship application. The process depends on your campus policies. It maybe helpful to take the following paragraph describing the GREAT training program in more detail to the Office of Sponsored Programs for clarification.

The Graduate Research and Education in Adaptive-Biotechnology (GREAT) awards are training grants provided by UC BREP to UC researchers on the ten UC campuses and three national laboratories. They are awarded to principal investigators, as primary sponsors, who demonstrate that they have created an environment for cross-disciplinary research and education. The quality of the trainers, the candidate and the training environment is considered when awarding the grant to the primary sponsor. However, should the faculty or nominated student leave the UC campus and if approved by the UCBREP Executive Committee, the training grant may follow them to another campus within the UC System. If the faculty leaves the UC campus and is not remaining within the UC system or is not continuing with the nominated student, then the training grant is terminated and any remaining funds revert to UCBREP. Specifically, the grant funds the training environment created by the faculty member and is not a direct fellowship to the student. There is no case where the grant would remain with the student if the faculty and student should split. Of course the student's new sponsor(s) are free to apply for GREAT funding.

Selected Wording from the UC BREP GREAT Guidelines:
Direct transfer of funds from one graduate student to another is not permitted. Should the nominated GREAT graduate student fail to accept the award, leave the university, change research direction, conduct research not approved by the Faculty Sponsor or the GREAT Program's Executive Committee, then the unexpended funds will be returned to the University of California Biotechnology Research and Education Program Office, which administers the GREAT Program. If the Faculty Sponsor(s) are able to identify another candidate, they will have the opportunity to reapply to the GREAT Program's executive committee for reconsideration of a new nominee. Any substantive changes in the project, such as changes in budget allocations, location, Faculty Sponsor(s), project period, major project scope etc., require pre-approval of the GREAT Program's executive committee. The University of California Biotechnology Research and Education Program Office must be notified of any potential changes as soon as possible.

If your Office of Sponsored Programs needs more information, please have them contact us at (530) 752-8237.

A.   The Primary Faculty Sponsor submits the proposal.

A.   No, we do not want a printed copy of the proposal. We do need a printed copy of the signature page.

A.   Institutes, MRUs or ORUs that are affiliated with and administered through a UC campus may be recipients of the GREAT award through the Primary Sponsor. The affiliated institute, MRU or ORU must use UC Office of the President (OP) accounts and funds. We must be able to process an interlocation transfer of funds directly to the department, UC institute, UC MRU, or UC ORU. If the entity does not use OP accounts and funds, the training grant award funds must go to the primary sponsor's academic home department at a UC campus. Post award arrangements with the affiliated institute may be pursued through the affiliated UC campus

A.   Collaborators' letters should address the central points of the RFP, e.g, cutting-edge theoretical and experimental research at the interface between the life sciences and the chemical, computational, engineering, material, mathematical or physical sciences; interdisciplinary research training environment; brightest young graduate student within UC system; rigor of training that prepares students for careers in evolving interdisciplinary fields in industry, academia and government; potential positive impact of the project on the California biotechnology economy; potential for securing industry or alternate funding.

A.   A cosponsor is substantially involved in the training of the graduate student and must demonstrate that they provide a training environment that satisfies the leading-edge, interdisciplinary requirements of the program. They must be actively engaged in the planning, execution and supervision of the proposed research year, and encourage the trainee to report the results of the research in scientific journals and meetings where the University of California Graduate Research and Education in Adaptive bio-Technology (GREAT) Training Program support is acknowledged.

For a single primary sponsor, a mentor or mentors--who will have less responsibility than a cosponsor--is required to satisfy the requisite cross-disciplinary exposure. Mentors provide exposure to the cross disciplinary component of the training. Mentor(s) must demonstrate interest by providing a biographical sketch and signature on the signature page of the pre-proposal. Mentors need not have UC PI status.

A.   Yes. A UC faculty sponsor may nominate you if you are a graduate student at the time of the award commencement, academic year 2008-09.

A.   The comment about "demonstrate the intent to seek matching funds" is to let the sponsor know that the reviewers look favorably on any matching funds that maybe available to augment the training grant. Matching is not required; it is looked favorably by the reviewers. Any matching, whether it is campus or biotechnology companies, is encouraged. In addition, we want the students/and or professors to be willing to accompany UC BREP personnel on visits to private sector companies who may be willing to fund some trainees. Sponsors do not have to secure matching funds but must be willing to help UC BREP find funds.

A.   Reviewers are looking for information that would help determine your capability to provide this training. We do not need to know the room numbers and/or building where equipment is housed but as similar to NSF and NIH, please detail and/or list the equipment and facilities appropriate to this training project.

A.   The research support section is not included in the 8-page narrative limit. It should be included as part C in the faculty sponsor(s) and mentor(s) biographical sketches. In the research support section, please include the person's role on the project, funding agency, project title, dates, and a brief summary (one or two sentences) of the overall goals of the project.

A.   Yes, it is correct that figures, graphics and photos may be appended and do not count towards the eight-page narrative limit. References are not included in the eight-page limit. Where possible, appendices should be added at the end of the narrative in order to be uploaded via the online submission system. If this is not possible, as in the case of original letters of support, the original should be mailed along with the signature page.

A.   Reviewers are looking for information that would help determine the Sponsor's capability to provide the training. Knowledge of current and past students is helpful in this endeavor. If you do not have all of the specific information concerning each student then write "unknown" in the appropriate field.

A.   The required font size is 11 point. However, the text needs to be legible - the reason that 11 point arial is chosen is that it is considered the smallest acceptable level for clarity for most readers. Remember if you use smaller font for captions and make it difficult for reviewers to read you may hurt rather than help your prospects! You may use a different font but just keep in mind the reader has your fate in his/her hands!